Carl's Swedish "Lovely Lamb Borsch"

[Hector]

Carl's Swedish "Lovely Lamb Borsch"

Serves 8 as Main Dish.

I've made this dish many times. It's an alltime favorite of my family. I've got the idea when my father who owns quite a number of sheep and one day, he went home with a fresh slaughter with loads of good cuts of lamb and lamb bones which I was eager to do something good with. The dish's inspiration is both Swedish and Russian.

It's a beed root soup which uses both cured pork, lamb and beef allthoghter in a rustique countrycooking way. But also retains to good modern tastes with the quantity of vegetables. Good beetroots, allspice, dill, stock, and meat. Some might consider the root vegetables I use in this soup quite dull, but in this soup they are practically excellent.

In Sweden we do not make beet roots soups like this one is made traditionally. Though this dish resembles many dishes in Sweden, and mostly it's like the classic "boiled lamb in dill sauce" which is an old country favorite. But that dish hasn't the refined seasoning and the variety of good meat and vegetable as this great dish has.

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Making the stock and boiling the meat.

• 1000 g good lamb suitable for long boiling, or anykind of beef or lamb part used for stews
  
• 100 g g of english bacon or any kind of cured pork
  
• coarse sea salt to taste
  
• whole black peppercorns
  
• 2 whole onions
  
• 3 cloves of garlic
  
• a calfs bone with marrow in it- "ossobuco style"
  
• 100 g of pork "schpek". e. g firm white part of bacon
  

Making the soup.

• 50 g butter
  
• 1 tsp wheat flour
  
• 4 parsnips, chopped coarsley
  
• 4 small carrots, chopped coarsley
  
• LOTS OF fresh peeled beet roots
  
• a bunch of fresh leaf parsely
  
• a bunch of fresh dill
  
• 1 T whole crushed allspice or more
  
• a dash of red vinegar
  

For serving:

• 3 dl creme fraiche, or fat sour cream (smetana) in a separate bowl
  

First. Boil the lamb and make the stock.

Put the stewable lamb meat in a large pot, along with the whole onions, the garlick, the calfs bone, the pork "schpek", the bacon, and lots of sea salt and peppercorns, a sprig of parsely maybe. Fill the the pot with lots of water, as much as used for soup, like 1,5 liter water (but more if you want to have a nice stock for other dishes too), and bring to boil. Let the pot simmer and til the meat is ready.

Meanwhile. In a big boiling pot, also suitable for frying, Sautée the parsnips, the carrots,in the butter allong with the flour. Stir. Set aside. When the meat is ready you drain the pot over another big pot so you save the stock but separate the meat from it.Throw away the schpeck, the garlicks and the onions, and the bacon if you don't want it. Or save the garlic and mush them into your soup before it's finnished.

Then you remove the meat from the calfs bone and cut it into small pieces, that can be used in a soup. And the same goes with all the other meat too.

Add the meat to the root vegetables and fry the meat shortly.

Pour the stock over the root vegetables (not the beet roots, add them later) and meat.

Stir around, then add how much stock you think should be good for a good soup. Bring to boil and let it simmer, add chopped dill, chopped parsley and the crushed allspice and the vinegar.

Then precisly before serving: grate lots and lots of peeled whole beetroots to coarse pieces. Like the pieces you get when you grate cabbage or carrots. Grating beetroots is quite hard, but it's very rewarding. Mind that the beetroots have a purple juice that gives stains that isn't easy to take away. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just before serving the dish. Add the grated beetroots to the pot and bring to boil shortly.

Taste and adjust the flavour. Too much vinegar? add more allspice. too much allspice? add more vinegar.

Too little pepper, too little salt? you decide.

Serve in big deep dishes. Serve creme fraiche/smetana or fat sour cream on the side, as a condiment that can be stired into the soup, enjoy!

Keywords: Lamb, Eastern Euro/Russian, Soup, Beef, Main Dish, Intermediate

( RG1326 )